Choosing a computer security system for your computer is like buying a pair of shoes. The range of shoes available, in a good shoe shop, can extend from bedroom slippers to mountain boots. The mountain boots would detract from the style of a designer dress, and the high heels would be irresponsible on the slopes of a high snow covered mountain.
If your computer is used to randomly check out things on the Internet, then you will need a full security suite to provide protection to the personal files on your computer. Rogue software, and other malware, exist on the Internet. These programmes are primed to infect any unprotected computer system. By protected I mean an active firewall and real time anti-virus scanning, which will check any file being downloaded onto the computer.
One particularly interruptive and upsetting piece of rogue software is the hard disk error virus. This virus displays a message which states that your computer has a hard disk error. The inability to access the files on the computer , will grab the attention of the computer owner. Some versions of this offer a link to an Internet site where you can download a fix for the problem. In most cases this is an attempt to retrieve money from the now terrified computer user, who believes that all his/her important files and photographs, emails and documents are now lost.
At this point there is nothing to be done but contact your local friendly computer expert to have the virus removed from the computer. This may require a lot of work, more than you might think. The first thing that needs to be done is to identify the virus, and then remove it from the computer. The details involved in this are beyond the space or the purpose of this article.
This particular virus also changes the status of files on the computer system to hidden, so even when the virus has been removed , the computer owner will not be able to view his/her files, as the operating system cannot find them. The cure for this is manageable and just takes a small bit of knowledge and a lot of time. It is a straight forward skill, to display hidden files and then remove the hidden setting from the properties of these files.
As frost bite in the feet can be, in the main, avoided by following guidelines and wearing protective footwear. Rogue and virus software can be screened and stopped. A good anti-virus system will detect and stop a virus when it tries to enter your computer system. As with the shoes, you pay for what you get, good strong protection costs money.
If you are willing to limit your computer and Internet usage to tried and trusted sites, you are less likely, but not guaranteed to avoid viruses. In this instance a free ant-virus system such as AVG, Avast and Microsoft Security Essentials with the Windows Firewall can provide protection. No anti-virus will give a 100% guarantee but, I can give you a 100% guarantee that without anti-virus protection on your computer, you will get a virus on your computer system.
The longer the virus is on your system the greater the risk of spreading it further as well as interrupting your own computer usage. You may also lose some or all of the pictures and files stored on your computer.
The method for proper computing is simple and effective; maintain your computer, keep the software up to date, have at least one backup copy of all your data, keep your anti-virus system up to date, make sure your firewall is always on.
Back to the shoes, what will it be today, the high ankle walking boots or the high heeled stilettos?